CLOSING THE GAP

Disability has a large impact on Indigenous employment.
The majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people of workforce age without a disability were
employed in 2014-15 (54.9 per cent). In contrast only
39.7 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people with a disability were employed (Figure 21).
Disability Employment Services is a specialised
employment support program for people whose
disability is their main barrier to gaining employment.
Around 10,000 Indigenous jobseekers are supported.
Other programs, such as the School Leaver
Employment Supports, the JobAccess gateway
and the Employment Assistance Fund, provide
services to people with disabilities and their potential
employers to support pathways to employment.
Complementary support to address non-vocational
barriers to employment for people severely affected
by mental illness is provided through Personal Helpers
and Mentors services. To date, six Aboriginal-controlled
organisations are funded to provide services. The
Government actively seeks to fund Indigenouscontrolled
organisations to deliver community-based
mental health support services in communities where
the population is predominantly Indigenous.
Supporting Indigenous Australians to get
drivers licences
Not having a drivers licence, or losing a licence can be a
significant barrier to employment. Austroads, has recently
released a report with recommendations to support
Indigenous Australians to get and keep their drivers
licence. The report recommends states and territories
work together to develop common national policy
principles for Indigenous driver license service delivery.
Boosting employment opportunities
while caring for country
The benefits of having Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people involved in land and sea management
are two-fold – the significant knowledge of land and sea
country, having successfully managed and protected it
for many generations, provides a unique perspective and
brings a diversity of skills to environmental management.
Additionally, working on country helps preserve
the strong cultural connection between Indigenous
Australians and their land, reaping a wide range of social
and economic benefits for local Indigenous communities.
More than 2,600 Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people are employed as Indigenous
rangers through the Indigenous Rangers and
the Indigenous Protected Areas programs:
• Indigenous Rangers – funds 777 full-time equivalent
Indigenous ranger positions, providing approximately
2,000 people with employment in full-time, part-time
and casual ranger jobs. Junior ranger programs
are also encouraging school attendance while
passing down cultural and ecological knowledge.
• Specialised Indigenous Rangers – provides
formal qualification and recognition of the
technical role rangers play in protecting our
ecosystem. It also enables rangers to stop people
doing the wrong thing on land and sea.
• Indigenous Protected Areas Program – employs
over 600 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people work in full-time, part-time and casual
positions. It encourages Indigenous communities
to voluntarily dedicate their land or sea country
as part of the national reserve system, many of
which are cared for by Indigenous rangers.
Figure 21: Indigenous working age (15-64) employment rates, by disability status, 2014-15, (per cent)
Per cent
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
19.2
Profound or
severe disability
43.7
39.7
54.9
Other disability All withdisability No disability or
restrictive long-term
health condition
Source: ABS National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey 2014-15
48.4
All Indigenous
people of
working age
•62• CLOSING THE GAP: PRIME MINISTER'S REPORT 2017